


PMD : Alone Together (aka Another Rescue Team)

by XanaDurian



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red/Blue Rescue Team, Gen, Hopefully sick character moments, Hopefully sick fights, Hopefully sick in general, World doesn't need saving
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22842718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XanaDurian/pseuds/XanaDurian
Summary: The world is not ending. There is no prophecy, no chosen one, and no calamity. And yet... a human-turned-Snivy wakes up in the woods with no memory except for his own name. Together with his Torchic partner and their mentor, they will take on outlaws and rescue missions in a bid to prove they are the best, and make plenty of nasty enemies along the way.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. It's Just Begun

**Author's Note:**

> You can find a prologue, and a number of unreleased chapters, here - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13417301/1/PMD-Alone-Together-aka-Another-Rescue-Team  
> You can find a reading of the first chapter by my buddy JustM33 here - http://www.mediafire.com/file/cil0xv1jufgofsq/AT_CH_1.mp3/file  
> ...  
> You can start reading the story now.

"…"

"..ey, ar… ay?…"

"Hey! Wake up!"

I awaken with a start. My head feels groggy, and my body feels strange. On a sensation level, it's nothing out of the ordinary, but my proportions feel… off, somehow. As though my arms and legs are a lot shorter than they should be.

Looking at myself, I notice that I'm not quite what I expected to be. I'm definitely not a human, that's for sure. The word Snivy comes to mind, in fact.

I stretch, my observations finished, and from the ground look up to see whomever it is who's woken me up.

I find myself in the company of a Pokémon, much like myself. Their orange feathers and yellow poff on their head indicates to me a Torchic. They look concerned, big marble-like eyes looking down on me, as they step a little closer to me whilst I lay on a grassy floor.

Their beak is scrunched up in a little frown, and they say, "Uh… hey there. Are you okay?" after a short pause.

I note their high, slightly scratchy voice. They sound boyish to me, young. I can't help but compare them to… well, I suppose it reminds me of… of… huh. Welp. I can deal with that later on my own, I have to talk to this Pokemon in front of me.

I open my mouth, take a short breath, and reply with, "Yes. I think." I get up from the ground, standing up right on my stubby little snake legs.

"Oh good!" they say, letting loose tension and softening their frown a touch. They step back just a bit, before saying, "I was kinda worried! You don't see a lot of Pokemon just passed out in the forest, y'know? It's not exactly the safest place to get some shut eye." They pause for a second, and tilt their head curiously. "What are you doing out here, anyways?"

I pause. I'm not quite sure how to answer that. Quite frankly, I don't remember. And what I do remember doesn't exactly apply to current events, so I have a hard time puzzling together an answer. I end up not saying anything, as I can't think of anything that would satisfy the Torchic in front of me.

I look down as the moment drags on uncomfortably, lips in a tight line. I notice the grass underneath my feet as the Torchic shifts in place, allowing us to further stew in awkward silence.

I glance up and see Torchic open their beak to speak again. "Oookay then, uh… well, my name's Cole. You don't seem like you're from around here; we don't get a lot of easterners out here. What's your name?" they ask curiously, though with some discomfort as he attempts to move on from the awkward moment. His face has returned entirely to what I would imagine to be his neutral expression.

This question is much simpler for me, as I actually remember the answer, I think. I breathe in, feet shifting outward a little as I say, "… my name is Arthur." I can't help but pause for a moment, but I do get this sentence out of my mouth before I can cause another uncomfortable moment. Looking at Cole, he seems vaguely pleased that I responded to his question in a timely manner. I look down again at the grass.

"Okay Arthur, hi! So, h-"

Before he can complete his question, though, someone crashes into us. We go sprawling on the ground as this buggy torpedo knocks us on our backs.

I rub my skull, slightly dazed from the impromptu tackling endured.

Quickly getting to my feet again, I see that another Pokemon has joined us. Big red compound eyes, purple pigment, yes, that certainly is a Butterfree. It strikes me as odd that I can remember what Pokemon are, and their distinctive individual traits, but not anything from the past before I woke up a few minutes ago.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the Butterfree exclaims. "I didn't mean to knock you two over," she flies frantically around us, seemingly in a panic.

"There was an earthquake! The ground collapsed and my baby fell into a Mystery dungeon! Oohh…" The mother flits around nervously, antenna hanging low around her head as she flies in an anxious circle. I look over to see Cole, standing up. He looks up at the Butterfree and opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, she speaks up again.

"You two! Please, you have to help me! I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my baby. I'll reward you, I promise, but please find my child!" Her pleading voice and desperate eyes are impossible to ignore. I say nothing, but I look at her fretting face and know that I simply can't turn her down.

I glance over at Cole, and it seems to me he feels similarly. With a sympathetic look on his face, he says, "Okay, we'll find your child lickety-split, don't you worry! We'll be back before you know it."

Cole grabs my hand with his feathers, and with gratitude at our backs, drags me down into the surrounding shrubbery, presumably to this so-called 'Mystery Dungeon'. I don''t know what a Mystery Dungeon is, exactly, but seeing as how both Cole and the mother behind us both seem familiar with it, I think it's safe to assume that it's common knowledge. I'll find out one way or the other what these things are, so I decide to not ask and save myself the embarrassment.

Either way, deeper into the great unknown we go…

  


* * *

  


Mon, what a weird guy.

I've known this guy for, what, maybe a half-hour? Already, I can tell he's an odd one. He's just so… quiet, I guess. I keep asking this dude questions, and I just keep getting brick-walled.

"So where are you from?" Silence.

"What was it like coming here?" Silence.

"Do uh, do they have good food where you're from?" Silence.

It's so weird! I know he can talk, I've heard him, but whenever you try to ask this dude a question more complicated than what color the grass is, he goes mute. I haven't really met someone quite this shy before!

I'm leading this guy, Arthur, to the mystery dungeon. I've been holding his hand so that he doesn't get lost, because he's really not watching the path. I've looked back at him a few times to ask some simple questions, but it always seems like his gaze is somewhere else. He's always looking at the grassy floor, or the canopy of trees above us, or the bushes all around us.

After awhile, I notice he stops. I turn around and see him pointing to our left. "… What's- what is that?" he asks.

I look to where he's pointing, and at first, I don't see anything strange. As I look more closely, though, I can kinda see some weirdness. The leaves and grass are a slightly different shade of green, and the plants all seem a bit less… there? Sorta like they're less… depth-y? They seem more flat. The light just isn't hitting them quite right. I raise an eyebrow. The spot Arthur pointed out may actually have something special about it after-all! Looks like the entrance to our mystery dungeon. What a catch!

"Woah, yeah. That's a mystery dungeon entrance. How'd you spot it?" I ask, surprised. That really is impressive. Dungeon entrances are pretty subtle 'cause they blend in so well, but this guy caught it like that! He must have a pretty keen eye to just pick one out of the blue like that. Now, if only he'd answer one of my questions, that'd be gre-

"Well, uh… I was just, well, looking around. Paying attention. It just looked weird to me, so, just, I uh, I pointed it out. To you," Arthur said, kinda fidgeting in place. Needless to say, I was shocked. He finally gave me a response! Progress! Though, that still seems odd. This guy is so strange, mon. I give him a smile and say, "It takes a pretty keen eye to pick a mystery dungeon outta nowhere, dude. You must be pretty sharp, huh?"

Arthur just blushes and looks at the ground. I guess he's still pretty shy, but at least he spoke to me this time. I really do mean the compliment, too. It's kinda hard for any random Pokemon to pick a mystery dungeon out of its surroundings. Heh, maybe if they 'paid-attention' like this guy, it wouldn't be such a problem. Either way, we've found our destination. Now, let's see if Arthur is still willing to talk.

"So, Arthur," I start, walking closer to him. As sunlight filters through the leaves above us, I ask "Have you ever been inside a mystery dungeon?" and he freezes up immediately. While he was pretty stiff before, now he seems like a metal pole. I see his mouth go into this really tight line as he fixes his gaze at what I think is my feet. I glance down at my feet, but there's nothing there but grass, so I look up again and see him blushing. Is Arthur… embarrassed?

I try to soften myself a little bit, seem a bit more friendly. "Arthur, dude," I say, before tilting my head with a small smile, "You don't have to be embarrassed! Plenty of 'mon don't go into these things." I notice him loosening up a bit at that. Score one for me! His eyes kinda dart from side to side.

He moves a bit closer, and I start talking again, "I just need to know so I can explain whatever it is you don't know! A lot of Pokemon know the basic maze stuff, not a lot of 'mon know the subtleties, though, like not to eat food from a dungeon when you get out."

Arthur quirks an eyebrow while looking at the mystery dungeon entrance. "Why should you not eat food from inside a dungeon? What- does something happen?" he asks curiously. I smile and nod at him, and he looks over at me.

"Well, yeah! You'll get sick. It's like eating old food. Time doesn't pass in a dungeon the way it does out here," I explain, gesturing to all the foliage around us as I get closer to the entrance. "So while the food is fine to eat in there, when you get out, however long it's been in there catches up to it. It might still look good on the outside, but once you bite into it, you'll find out just how long it's been on the floor."

I shudder, remembering the time I tried to eat a beautiful looking Big Apple, only to get a mouthful of mold.

"Trust me, Arthur, don't try it." He has his little leafy hand on his chin, thinking. I guess this might be weird for someone who doesn't do a whole lot of dungeonering. Seems strange that he'd be all the way out here if he didn't have any experience, though. It's a long way from the east coast to get here without going through a single mystery dungeon. He did spot the entrance to this one, though, maybe he avoided them all?

After a moment with no response, I turn back to Arthur. "Okay dude, let's get going! Butterfree's kid isn't gonna rescue itself!" I proclaim. He nods at me with this kinda determined look on his face, and we head into the dungeon.

Ah well, maybe I'm just being dumb. He's probably like any other east coast 'mon…


	2. Are You Ready?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find a prologue, and a number of unreleased chapters, here - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13417301/1/PMD-Alone-Together-aka-Another-Rescue-Team  
> Over the course of the week, I will be releasing said unreleased chapters on to Ao3 until this is all caught up on this website.

I wasn't sure what exactly I was expecting when we entered the Mystery Dungeon. I certainly can say that I'm not going to complain about how mundane our entry was, but I can say that I was expecting something a bit more impactful.

If it weren't for the monotonous nature of our surroundings, and the exceedingly corridor-like pathways, I would not have guessed that we were anywhere extraordinary at all. However, looking closer, the leaves on the trees, the patterns on the bark, even the angles at which branches stick out from shrubs, is all too… perfect. Not a flaw in any stone, or knot in any tree. It was, in a way, off-putting

Of course, as stated before, it is the layout, more than anything else, that gives this place away. As we traverse, we enter these rooms and corridors. They give the impression of clearings, and yet, when you brush against the 'walls', so to speak, you'll find yourself bumping against a solid… force, of some sort. Not unlike concrete, perfectly smooth concrete.

The texture is as odd to me as it is viscerally satisfying to touch something so flawlessly flat. There is, however, a certain kind of cognitive dissonance involved when you see this foliage in front of you, but you're blocked off by something entirely invisible. It's like I'm walking inside of a glass enclosure.

Cole and I walk side by side as we come across something of interest in our next room. In the corner, far to the right, is what looks like a gleaming object. Squinting my eyes a bit, it seems like a small pile of… coins? Out in the middle of a forest? Why?

Cole turns to move on to the next corridor, but I instantly make a bee-line for the coins. I know he notices, and I hear him turn around. "Hey, what's u- oh! Poké! I didn't even notice," he says. I don't have anything meaningful to say to that, so I stay quiet.

As I approach what I assume to be money, I can make out more detailed features. The gold coins on the ground are dominated in their surface area by a big bold P on the front. They seem to be ridged, on the sides, and as I stand over them, I notice two bits of text that stick out. For one, denominations, as one coin had a big '10' on it, and the other six only had a '1'. The other bit of text that sticks out to me is 'West Coast - Best Coast'.

Are we on the West Coast? I suppose so, though I haven't exactly seen a coast near by. Then again, I've only really been in a forest thus far...

"How much is it?" I hear from behind.

At this point, I must conclude that, whatever the lineage of this body, there must be some level of Buneary in me, because at that moment I jumped higher than I would've thought possible for a Pokemon with such short little legs. I twist around and face the Torchic behind me. He seems surprised, and honestly, I think I can relate- I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack.

"Woah, hey, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," Cole says, as I hold a leafy green hand to my chest. I allow a moment for myself to calm down.

Staring at the ground, I breathe slowly, in and out. I feel myself relax as I hear Cole scruff one of their talons on the ground. I guess this is what I get for paying attention to some coins and not my surroundings. My heart goes back to normal after another moment, and I finally reply, "16," having now calmed down.

"What?" he says with a tilt of his head. I breathe out my nostrils and elaborate the best that I can.

"Poké. There were 16 Poké on the ground." I turn around again and pick them up with my hands, the gold metal jingling together. I hear an "Oh!" behind me as I count them out and hand them to my Torchic companion.

"Here. You can take them. If you want to," I tell him as they land in his yellow feathers.

Cole looks surprised. "Huh? Uh, alright. You sure you don't want some too, dude?" he says, stretching out his feather to hand me some coins back. "This isn't a lot of money, but we're in this together, so you should have some too, don't ya think?"

I suppose I wasn't really thinking about it. Perhaps I should take some money with me as well. After all, money means a society, and a society means I need money for things. I'm not sure what things specifically, but I do know I need… things.

"Well… okay. Yes," I say, before taking the coins.

It is at this point that I must conclude that the universe has a sense of humour, or at least derives some mild amusement from messing with us.

As soon as Cole turns around to lead us to the next part of the dungeon, "Alrighty, we've been on this floor for a while, let's get go-" he gets tackled by yet another bug. I'd be amused myself if said bug weren't trying to attack us.

Let's see, red, yellow horn, big eyes, yes, this certainly is a Wurmple.

* * *

Ow.

Jeez, mon, what's with bug's and tackling me today? Did I step in honey or something? C'mon, I know I'm pretty hot, but when other pokemon talk about wanting to smash, I don't think they mean this, that's all I'm saying.

Wurmple gets off to ready its next attack.

I get up too and turn to face it. This guy doesn't look too tough. At least, he's definitely not as tough as he's trying to be. For all his growling, I can't help but find it cute. Aw, this guy thinks he can win!

I ready my stance. Both talons planted firmly on the ground, I give this guy my best glare, puff my chest out a bit, and get ready to fight.

"Alright mon, I know you wanna go, but we both now how this is going to end, so j-"

I'd keep going, but that little bastard just spews his strings in my mouth, eughh! Okay, no more playing around. I refuse to be made a fool of by bug boi over here.

I charge straight for him, "HRRRRMMMM"ing through my string gag as I do a little jump and kick my talons out to get him with a good scratch. I get him across the cheek, but I guess I left myself open, because the next thing I know, I'm tackled.

Again.

Argh!

The Wurmple giggles at me and sticks his tongue out. I peck at him from beneath his segmented body as well as I can. It doesn't seem to hurt him much, what with this big wad of sticky stuff in my mouth, but I'm pretty sure he got the message.

He hops off from my belly, and as I start getting up, this guy blows a damn razzberry at me and sticks my talons together with his string shot. Just…

I'm so very mad. I feel something build in my throat as I get styled on by this damn little bug bastard.

I start trying to go after him, but I immediately fall. This is so lame. Arcues, mon, if only Snizzy were here… wait, hold on, I have a partner, why aren't they helping?

I look over at where Arthur is, and that damn Wurmple follows my gaze. We both see Arthur freeze, eyes wide as he glances back and forth between the two of us. "Um… hi- hello?" they say.

Just like he did me, the first thing Wurmple does is go to tackle Arthur to the ground.

I can see him panic, before immediately diving forward and ducking as the Wurmple goes sailing over his head. The Wurmple skids to a halt and glares at Arthur as he turns around to face the deranged bug fighting him. He gives a nervous laugh, before turning to run.

The Wurmple chases after him. While they play Meowth and Rattata, I slowly allow a pressure to build in my throat again.

The Wurmple goes for a tackle, and Arthur jumps out of the way. A string shot flies as he lands, but it just covers his tail.

This Snivy is pretty agile, honestly, I do have to hand it to him. He can't keep this up forever, though, he's already panting, and I might not be able to burn off this string in time. Why hasn't he tried attacking yet?

I see Arthur relax a bit. "Okay. I get it now," I hear him say quietly.

What's he up to?

I can see the Wurmple gearing up for another tackle, and this Snivy just stands there. The worm charges forward, leaps for a tackle, and then something happens that I didn't quite expect.

Arthur slides forward on his knees, slams his tail into the ground, and uses the momentum to headbutt the Wurmple's belly from underneath. The Wurmple's eyes go wide as it gets sent tumbling through the air, landing on its face.

Alright, that was kinda clever, I guess. I wouldn't have thought to do that, at least. His stamina might be lacking, but Arthur does have a good head on his shoulders.

He smirks, looking a little proud of himself after landing back on the ground on his feet. He starts walking towards the Wurmple, but his eyes go wide as he's tugged back into place.

"Ach, what?" he says before glancing back to find his sticky tail stuck to the ground. He looks befuddled.

"I… well, I wasn't anticipating this," he says lamely.

Wurmple growls at him, and he turns his attention back to the worm assaulting us.

At first, Arthur looks scared again as the Wurmple slowly approaches. His eyes dart all around him, and I can almost see the gears in his head turning as he tries to think his way out of this.

The heat and pressure in my throat is nearly about ready to ember the string shot in my mouth, but I just need a tiny bit more time.

Suddenly, Arthur's eyes snap back to the approaching Wurmple, and he loosens up again.

The Wurmple goes for yet another tackle, and Arthur just stands there. I mean, I guess he can't really do much else, but I'm not sure what he plans to do if he can't really move. As the Wurmple jumps for his attack though, Arthur raises his left hand.

Wait a minute… no way, there's no way he's gonna do what I think he's going to do. There's no way that this guy, who's spent the past forty-five minutes all shy, has the balls to do what I think he's about to do. Can Snivy even learn that move? No, no, he has to be going for something else, I-

Well damn. Arthur used pay day.

Kinda.

When the Wurmple is about to collide with him, Arthur doesn't toss a hail of coins at them like a normal pay day, no, instead, he throws his poké directly. Into. The Wurmple's. Eyes.

The little thing is barely aware of what's happening as it gets beaned in the optics.

I finally am able to ember through my gag when this happens, so I do. My ember isn't very strong, but it works, and when I burn away the string shot, I say the only thing that should be said. A well deserved "Damn, dude!" comes flying straight out of my beak.

The Wurmple is on the floor, writhing and clutching its eyes as it wallows in 1 Poké coins. I take a certain amount of satisfaction as it whines.

Arthur's body sags with relief, and his eyes widen in surprise. I'd be pretty surprised too if I pulled that off.

"That was… damn, mon, that wasn't too bad. Pretty crafty, dude," I say. I mean, really, who does that? I don't even think he used a real move that whole time until the very end, and that was a pretty weird pay day. Speaking of…

"Where did you learn how to do pay day, dude? Snivys can learn that?"

* * *

I… how do I answer that? What moves do Snivy learn? I'm fairly certain that they learn basic grass type moves, but anything beyond that is certainly beyond me. I am definitely sure that Snivys cannot learn Pay Day, so even if I were really a Snivy, I wouldn't be able to answer him adequately.

I pay attention to the short grass beneath my feet, how it feels, in order to calm myself.

I cannot lie to Cole, what would I even say? I appreciate the compliments, my warm face is proof enough of that, but I don't know how to explain myself, so I don't say anything.

Eventually, after an uncomfortable silence, the Wurmple recovers well enough to stand again. It looks at me, then at Cole, whines, and runs off into the woods!

What?! Bu- ! I- ! Wha- !? Oh never mind, it's already disappeared into the false forest. I really can't wrap my head around this. The area around the forest is solid! How can a Wurmple just waltz on through like that solid force isn't even there? Is it part of the Mystery Dungeon somehow? Why?

Shaking my head from all these questions, I turn back to look at Cole. His cheeks are puffed up, and his face looks almost… determined maybe? I'm not sure, but eventually, he spews some Embers from his beak and burns away the string keeping his talons together.

"Alright, finally, I can move again!" he exclaims excitedly, jumping up from his spot on the grass.

"Alright Arthur, now we just need to get you unstuck too! Here, just hold still, and I'll burn away the…"

I notice him look me up and down, and I stare at the ground, embarrassed.

"Oh," he says, "Right. You're a grass type."

"Welp." He walks over to where I'm stuck, the grass bending delicately beneath his talons. I try to lock my eyes onto a little yellowish blade of grass in front of me. "We're probably gonna be awhile, dude, so get comfy."

Suddenly, I realize exactly what it is he's referring to. I am a Snivy. My tail is made of leaves. Leaves are flammable. I am flammable. He is a fire type. He breathes fire. Houston, whoever you are, we officially have a problem.

Cole sits down next to me, and says "We're gonna have to wait for it to dry so we can break it off, mon, sorry."

"How much- how long does it take?" I ask.

"About 30 minutes," he replies.

…

"Well, I spy with my fiery eye something… green."

Just… just end me now.


	3. Dazed & Confused

Never allow string shot to come in contact with your body. It is sticky, it is gross, and if you're a grass type that lacks natural blades of some sort, it is impossible to get off before it dries. Not to mention, when it dries up it leaves behind this flaky, off-white crust, and just… ugghh disgusting.  
  
The texture of it while I pick it off of my tail makes me gag. Just, feeling these little flakes of string as they crumble in my hands makes shudders go up my spine. And it takes so long to get off too! I hate the way this feels, and I think I may now hate Wurmples as a result.  
  
I need to keep my eyes moving and alert. I do not want to get into another altercation with a bug type if I can help it. Every tree, leaf, and branch is being scrutanized by me - very meticulously, mind you! - as Cole and I continue our treck to find Butterfree's child.  
  
Am I being paranoid? Perhaps, but at the very least, I'd rather we don't end up getting blindsided like we did with the last one. I do not want to get string shotted- string shotted? String shot? I don't want to have to peel this stuff off again.  
  
Oh god, I need to get mind off of this. No, no, here, how about I try… talking? It's marginally less painful than dried string shot, if nothing else.  
  
"So, uh…" I clear my throat, "Cole." The words leave my mouth a little shakey, but I'll take it. Cole perks up a bit upon being addressed and he turns his gaze to me. I immediately look off to the side in response. "Yeah?" they reply.  
  
Wait. Damn it, I don't know what to say! Uh, let's see, um… oh, I know! A question! I can ask him a question, and he'll answer, and then a conversation will ensue wherein I'll finish cleaning my tail before its end. Okay, that's a good plan, that will most likely work.  
  
"Um, so… Mystery Dungeons. Can you tell me more? About them," okay, awkward, but we can do this, "I uh, I nev- I don't really go into them. Much. At all."  
  
Nailed it.  
  
"Oh!" Cole exclaims. I hear some grass beneath us crunch as we end up in a new room. Looking around, the only thing of note here is how the grass is distinctively no longer alive.  
  
Cole pauses as we enter the room, and I do the same. "Yeah, sure dude, what do you want to know?" he asks, while peering around the room for the next corridor.  
  
There's so much that I don't know about these things. These places, these Mystery Dungeons, really are some kind of anomaly aren't they?  
  
"What are Mystery Dungeons?" I ask as we begin down the path to our right, where the grass begins to clear out to just dirt. I continue, "As in, h- well, why are they here? Did something happen?"  
  


As we walk, I see another room coming up, with some sort of… staircase? An upwards staircase? That leads… nowhere? 

"Well, no one's really sure where Mystery Dungeons come from. They've just… always been here, I guess."

Why and how. Why and how is there a big stone staircase to nowhere in the middle of a forest. 

"I'm not into the theory, I just know how to get through a dungeon. You'd have to ask my pal Snizzy about that kinda abstract stuff."

  
We enter the next room, more large and rectangular this time. I point my stubby little snake finger at the impossible stair case ahead of us.  
  
"Alright. Secondary question, why- what's with that staircase?" I ask, as I am, at this point, genuinely baffled. The invisible walls? I can deal with that. The random assailants? Annoying, but if we keep our wits about us, that's all they are. Hell, I'm willing to accept our disturbingly perfect surroundings! But this?  
  
This?!  
  
This is simply too much. I refuse to accept, I absolutely refuse to accept this without an adequate explanation. I can only hope that whatever comes out of Cole's beak is satisfactory.  
  
I look over at him as he opens his beak to answer. I hear his feathers shift as he tilts his head and raises an… well, we don't have eyebrows, but the mannerism is fairly unmistakable. A crook of the forehead, maybe?  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?"  
  
No, no no no no, don't you start. Don't you even try to tell me that this is normal!  
  
"It's just the stairs to the next floor, dude. There's not really anything weird about it."  
  


Oh my god, he did it. He actually told me that this is normal. I… I, please, what. How. Why. Stop. No. I refuse, I simply refuse, return to sender, no deposit, no return. Just-! 

Wait. 

Hold on. 

Stairs to the next… floor. As in, upwards. Wha-

I look up. Let's see, clouds, blue sky, a weirdly large sun- ow, okay, looking away from that. 

As I blink the sunspots from my eyes, I come to the most logical conclusion I can: there is no upper floor. There cannot be an upper floor. Unless the staircase leads into the clouds, this is simply impossible! I open my mouth again.

  
"But we're in a forest. How can- why is there even a staircase here?" I ask in utter confusion.  
  
I see Cole look at me, confused as well. "How else are we supposed to get to the next floor, dude? It's called a Mystery Dungeon for a reason, y'know," he tells me, before turning to the staircase in question and walking towards it.  
  
My left eyelid twitches as I watch him move away from me. I follow him, staring at his talon-prints in the ground while I try to calm myself. I may have been able to gloss over this earlier, but with this damn string on my damn tail added on, I do not… wait.  
  
I rub my hands all along my tail, and suddenly, everything is fine. I do not even have to try to calm myself calm. My tail is clean!  
  
As I step up the staircase behind Cole, I feel alright. Not great, this all still bothers me, however, with the pesky irritent known as string shot gone, I feel fine.  
  
Then I reach the final step of the stairs. I see trees, bushes, even a few flowers around me as we enter into a new room. My feet are planted firmly on the ground, with no textural indication of stone steps beneath my feet. The sky is blue, clear with the exception of a few wispy clouds, and I presume a sun, though I don't look this time. We are on another floor.  
  
For some reason, the sound of breaking glass comes to mind.  
  
Cole is already at the entrance to the next corridor we need to go down, and I follow him. I ignore the way my left eye twitches as we continue. I also ignore my clenched fists as my brain cells slowly whither away. I keep my mind on my surroundings as I follow Cole down the path, trying to focus on the smell of the forest, or the sounds of our steps.  
  
We end up in another elongated room, and suddenly Cole stops. I bump into him from behind, but I step back and to the side soon after. Cole seems tense, and when I glance up at his face for a second, he looks frustrated. I hear him shift, and he says, "Hey Arthur, we got company!"  
  
I look up to see yet another Wurmple coming our way.  
  
I can't tell you what I see now, aside from red.  
  
Before I'm even fully aware of what I'm doing, I find myself charging forward at the Wurmple as it squeeks in surprise. I take a leap and tackle it to the ground. I land on top of its squishy body as it squirms beneath me. I put my hands on his head and attempt to pull him up  
  
He writhes his body as I hold him by the head, legs failing outwards. I have a hard time keeping a hold on him, and I realize fairly quickly that I have a very short time limit to take advantage of my position. Looking out and zero-ing in on Cole, I see that he's some type of shocked, but moving towards us.  
  
"Attack him! Use your fl- your fire if you can!" I shout at Cole, which makes him spring into action after only a moments pause. He starts with a run, before jumping and delivering twin slashes across the Wurmples body with his talons.  
  
I am momentarily confused by his choice to use his talons, but I can't complain about the efficacy of his attack.  
  
The Wurmple shoots a burst of string shot into the air in desperation, and my eyes widen. I immediately let go and dive away, and the sound of flapping and talon patter tells me that Cole acted similarly. I land on my stomach with a 'pumf' and slowly get up, shaking my head.  
  
And then suddenly, in a moment of clarity, my anger and adrenaline is replaced with a cold water bucket realization that I am, infact, in a battle. Very suddenly my nerves return, and I freeze up. I stare at the Wurmple, up right and hurt, but still standing and looking to fight. Cole is looking fierce, with one of his talons raised as his wings act to balance him.  
  
They stare eachother down for a brief moment, before everything is suddenly in motion.  
  
The Wurmple leaps to tackle Cole down. I hear Cole say, "Not this time!" before he hops and strikes downwards with great speed. His talons catch the Wurmple on his face and bring him down to the ground with a satisfying impact. Cole lets go of the Wurmple, stands over him, and Pecks the back of his head.  
  
The Wurmple has fainted.

* * *

Y'know, I gotta admit.  
  
That was pretty satisfying.  
  
After having pecked that little bastard's head, I gotta say, I feel pretty slick. It feels like payback, and payback feels good.  
  
I stick my tongue out at the little bug boi, before I leave the Wurmple on the floor and walk over to Arthur. It seems like he's back to being all weird again, but he loosens up as I approach him. I give him a satisfied little smirk. He approaches me as well, and we meet somewhere in the middle of the room.  
  
"Y'know, I gotta say, you don't seem it, but you're not too shabby in battle," I say to the Snivy. I gotta give credit where its due. He blushes and stares at his favourite thing, the ground, before I continue "You fight pretty weird for a grass type, but… it works."  
  
I do have to say, seeing how this guy battles versus seeing how he acts normally is almost surreal. It's like night and day. He seems so nervey and tense most of the time, but when it's time to fight, he's kinda clever. He's definitely not anywhere near as fit as he should be, he got winded after only a few dodges earlier, but he's better than you'd expect from just looking at him.  
  
Arthur glances up at me, before looking down again and clasping his hands behind him. "I… well, okay. I don't know what came over me, really. I jus- I was just so frustrated…" he says, eyes moving across the floor very quickly.  
  
"Well, whatever happened, it was pretty good, mon, that's all I'm saying." I guess this guy really isn't too keen on compliments, huh? I dunno, if I caught my opponent off guard like that, I'd feel pretty proud of myself. I guess maybe he's like Snizzy - no nonsense. Heh, I should introduce them…  
  
Arthur doesn't respond, as per usual, and I turn my attention to the next corridor. "Okay, let's go. This forest's dungeon isn't too big, I think. Pretty sure we only got like, one more floor, so let's find that next staircase, grab the kid, and get outta here, alright dude?" I say, looking back as Arthur walks up behind me.  
  
I seem him nod, and together, we walk.  
  
Y'know, thinking about it, I wonder where this guy learned to fight, anyways. His fighting style is pretty weird for someone who's got training. Does he even have training? Looking back, he doesn't seem to have much of a technique. It's alot more… spur of the moment than I would expect from someone who acts like he does.  
  
"Hey Arthur," I start.  
  
I hear a quiet little "hm?" before I continue. "Where did you learn how to fight, dude? Who taught you?" I ask him with interest.  
  
We step into another room, this one a bit smaller than the last. There are two paths to go down this time, but I can see pretty clearly that the path across from us ends in a dead end right away, so I turn my attention to the path to our right instead. I hear Arthur walk over somewhere else. Turning to look, I see he's found an oran berry and is inspecting it.  
  
He holds onto it as he turns back to me and scurries over. "Sorry," he says, "Um, anyways…" His lips are pressed in a tight line. I nod to show I'm listening before turning to the corridor and starting down it. "I don't- I wasn't taught how to fight. I, uh, I don't know how. Really. Just, well, I guess I, um…"  
  
That sentence fragment just kinda hangs in the air as he trails off.  
  
All the same, that's good to know. So he probably doesn't know many moves, or at least, doesn't know how to use them as well as he could. Thinking back, the first time we got into a battle, he just froze up until he was in immediate danger, and the second time, I noticed him freeze up again after his big opening play. So he's got potential, but no training, really. Just going off instinct…  
  
Pretty weird instinct for a Snivy, but if it works, it works. I really do have to introduce this guy to Snizzy. Imagine if Arthur got some training in, and we got him on our team? Heh, now that'd be pretty killer, I think. If nothing else, it'd be nice having someone holding the fort down while me and Snizzy are out on a mission or whatever.  
  
I turn to look back at Arthur as we step into yet another room. "So dude," I say, before I notice the staircase to the next floor in the far right corner of the room. "I know you like to Cloyster up when I ask questions, but try to anwer this one, alright? It's kinda important," I tell him with a serious look. Arthur raises his eyebrow and nods at this.  
  
"When we get outta here, what are you planning to do, mon? You got somewhere you're trying to be, something you're trying to do, what?" I ask him as we approach the stairs. I step up the stairs and enter the final maze floor of the dungeon. Reaching this sorta lull, I turn to Arthur and see him with his head tilted, fingers against his chin, thinking.  
  
Another signature Arthur pause ensues, and after a long, long moment, he looks at me and says, "I'm not really sure, honestly."  
  
I raise my brows in surprise. Usually, an east coast 'mon, all the way out here, they'd have some kind of business out here. I was expecting maybe he was visiting someone, or maybe he even had some kind of trading out here to do. I guess he must be a kind of wanderer type.  
  
My face settles into a smile as I say, "Well, when we get outta here, you should come crash with me and my pal Snizzy, mon. You can hang out while you figure your stuff out." He looks surprised at this, but he gives me a small smile and nod, before looking away at everything in the room.  
  
With that settled, we've only got one more set of stairs to find, and we'll be outta here lickity split. "Okay Arthur, we only gotta find this last staircase, alright? Let's get going!" I exclaim, trying to channel my inner team leader. To my surprise, I hear an "Alright, Cole!" behind me from Arthur, and I can't help but smile.  
  
Yeah, this guy's going on the team for sure.


End file.
